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Thursday, September 12, 2013

So much for my brief foray into the realm of Country music! I suffered a bad case of total culture shock, and am back to listening to Classical music, Christian Contemporary, Classical Crossover, Jazz, Folk, and last but soitenly not least: POLKAS! I'm not saying that Country music is bad. It's just not what I grew up listening to much of. I'm sure there are plenty of you all who think my passion for polkas is totally shlocky. C'est la vie! So sue me! Ha ha ha! *grin*

Also, I saved up my pennies and bought a Roku HD streaming media player for my bedroom TV a couple of weeks ago, and while I don't usually watch all that much TV (often less than an hour per day, if even that much - I'd rather listen to music or read a book), I do love my Roku. So far, I have installed 30 channels out of 600+ plus available from the Roku channel store (most of which are free of charge).

*Netflix (the reason why we need to get another Roku for the living room television, so my dad and I can watch Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, and other such classics)

*Acorn TV - the Best of British TV - things like Poirot, which just began in Season 10

*TuneIn - another reason why we should get another Roku (for the living room TV) - radio stations from all over the world. I especially adore the German music stations, of which I have about 20 favorites. You would not believe how the nation of Germany, while approximately the size of Wisconsin, USA, contains so very much musical talent in so many different "flavors" of music.

*Amazon Instant Video, for when I can only find Jeeves & Wooster on Amazon and not Netflix

*Amazon Cloud Player, for when I feel like listening to all the music in my Amazon Cloud account (things I've uploaded from CDs I own)

*Other family friendly stations (you beloved Southern Baptists can look for a channel or two for your faith as well!), as well as including Old Time Radio programs, and Cowboy movies, PBS (just don't trust PBS when it comes to history too much - they "try to rewrite the books when nobody looks" as Bob Halligan Jr. of Ceili Rain fame put in his song "Right on the Money", but they are very cool with cooking and crafts programs), the Smithsonian Channel, and more.

Sure beats the $80 plus a month we were paying for a basic tier of cable through Charter Communications eight years ago before we cut the cord on them. Sure, I pay for Netflix (under $9 per month) and Acorn (under $3 per month), but it's such a good deal - and NOT A SINGLE COMMERCIAL and I can watch what *I want, WHEN I want! So there! :P It only cost me $60 plus tax for the Roku HD player itself, at "Tarzhay" (as my dear Momsie calls Target). You might be able to get it for less from Amazon - no tax, and free shipping.

So, Lord willing, I am set for if/when colds and flus happen to me this year - which could indeed happen anytime soon. Last year around this time I was on my third head cold of the summer and on my way to the flu.

***

Anyway, we have a secondary cold front moving through overnight and on Friday morning we'll be down to the lower 40's Farenheit again. I will be out on the patio in my flannel jammies sipping Eight o' Clock Arabica coffee, filling up the bird and suet feeders, and reveling in bird symphonies (LORD WILLING!!!). We were foolish and left the bird feeders outside last night/this early morning, and it's about time for the bear to return. I really like my main bird feeder, and would hate to see it demolished by another 350 to 400 pound black bear!

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO REAL AUTUMN WEATHER AND TO A GOOD ROUND OF HARD FREEZES! YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! *Chris does Happy Dance and Myposian Dance of Joy (for you fans of the 1990's television comedy Perfect Strangers :))

Time for me to head to morning devotions before the neighborhood comes awake for the day. Yesterday was a sleepy, tired, exhausting allergy day, and I hardly had my wits about me awake enough to pray. Drives me bonkers and unfocused when that happens. I don't know about you folks, but I really need Jesus. He is my Everything. If I lose touch with Him, I get lost... very, very, VERY lost. :(

God bless you all, and please know that I continue to pray for everyone who ever visits here or who ever at any time in the past visited the old blogs. I still kind of miss Xanga. I miss the Xanga pulses. Maybe there is some kind of Blogger app I can put in my side bar for chit chat like pulses. I'll try to look into that later today, Lord willing. I also have work to do on the saintlyquotations.com blog and the Catholic Christian Prayers blog. I have been hording up quotations and prayers - an embarrassment of riches!

So much more to chit chat about in the near future. Thanks so much for dropping by and visiting with me for awhile.

Love in Jesus,

- Chris

PS: This is Maggie McGee! She just celebrated her 12th birthday a week ago today. She is such a precious little friend and fur child. Would that everyone in the world had as nice a kitty as she is. Maglet is such a delightful little "purrson". *grin*

Monday, September 09, 2013

It's been a long, hard summer since around Independence Day. Understatement! I am looking forward to feeling something like alive again when the cold weather will set in and the geese will be flying. Until then, I am doing the best I can to find things to enjoy and help me to hang in there until some relief comes our way with the end of the pollen season and with the end of the summer heat. (It's going to be 90 degrees F. today, and not much hope of "Moctober" until Friday).

Last week, we hit 43 degrees early one morning. That was some kind of wonderful! I could feel my heart start beating again and the adrenaline and endorphins started coursing through my veins. Bring on the autumn!

Anyway, I am going through PHASES - especially musically speaking.

I have "discovered" Country and Americana genres of music! Finally, and at long last! :)

It all started out when the news hit me that Mac Powell (lead singer of Third Day) had put out a solo Country album. Wow! I liked that! It was better than the C&W music I listened to in my teens (though I never stopped liking Eddie Rabbitt's "Driving My Life Away"and that kind of thing . But Mac Powell - he is simply fantabulous! Of course, I'll always like him best in Third Day, but it was interesting to give the solo effort a good listen. It makes me feel something like alive while I go through this hellacious weaning down of my Lyrica medication.

Now I feel like perusing the FM dial and the Internet radio stations for Country music that might just tickle my fancy. That'll give me something fun and frivolous to do for awhile!

No more Classical (for awhile!). No more Polkas (for awhile!). No more Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban and Michael Buble' (for awhile!). I am going strictly "Southern Fried" for the next few weeks at least.

I also think I will window shop the Coldwater Creek website for women's clothes. Something different than wearing Boston Store labels and LL Bean. Maybe if my little whim lasts for awhile, I'll ask my mom for something from CC instead of LL Bean for Christmas. We shall see. For a woman who basically lives in her pajamas, it's pretty stupid of me to start salivating over Coldwater Creek clothes.

I wish I could go retro clothes-wise to about 1980 and wear corduroy blazers with plaid shirts and Levis. I wish I could grow my hair long again without looking like an old (and overweight!) hippie. Sigh. I guess I am mourning my youth in some ways. Apryl sent me some Mork & Mindy, Season One DVDs, and I used to have pretty hair like Pam Dawber! Gah! I hate being closer to 50 than to 15!!!!

But these are all transitory and mostly inconsequential things and I continue to pray and to offer up my suffering in union with that of Jesus on the Cross. THAT'S the kind of thing that makes a difference. Just sometimes I would like to kick up my heels and feel... YOUNG again.

Well, I can barely type. The PMS Fairy is messing with me neurologically again, so I'd best cease and desist from my inane little ramblings. I will for certain be back to blogging more and more as fall comes along.

Everyone is in my prayers and thoughts. Thanks for dropping by for a spell!

Much love in Jesus,

- Chris, still tempted to try to ask Santa Claus for a violin for Christmas. Guess I best just buy new strings for my acoustic guitar for the first time in eons and try to remember how to string it. It's been awhile. A guitar is hardier than a violin. I always broke the bridge of my old violin. Of course, if anyone reading is of a praying persuasion, you could pray that I could find a good used violin for next to nothing! :) Wind instruments are NOT for me! I tried this year. Yikes. Talk about the Squeak Monster!!!